JPH0756495A - Virtual controller - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] An object of the present invention is to provide a virtual controller which is portable, can be miniaturized, and can realize large-scale simulation without impairing versatility. A virtual controller 12 of the present invention virtualizes a controller that executes process control of a plant, and provides a simulated operating environment to an operator station 10 that operates the plant via the controller. . The virtual controller 12 determines a tool 19 for setting a simulation environment, an identifier included in the tool and indicating a type of simulation to be executed, a type of simulation to be executed from the identifier, and depending on the type. Means 15-18 for preparing a simulation environment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a simulation device used for operation training of operators who operate plants, and more specifically, virtualizes a process control station (hereinafter referred to as PCS) for executing process control. Regarding the virtual controller.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In various plants such as petrochemical, iron and steel, paper pulp, water and sewage, a distributed control device may be applied for process control. FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of a distributed control device applied to a certain type of plant.

This distributed control system has a plurality of PCSs 2-1 to 2-on an operator interface station (hereinafter referred to as OIS) 1 in which a plant operator is stationed.
n are connected via LAN3, and each PCS2-1
~ 2-n are process I / O cards 4-1 to 4-n (4
(Only −1 is shown) is connected to the corresponding field.

Each of the PCSs 2-1 to 2-n operates independently to control the corresponding field device through its own process I / O card 4 and transmit the process data of the field device to the OIS 1.

In such a distributed control apparatus, the operator gives a desired control to the field by giving a command such as a parameter change instruction to the specific PCS 2 from the OIS 1.

By the way, the operation of the above-mentioned various plants requires a high degree of skill and rarely has experience of operating in a state such as an emergency or an unsteady state. I had to give it.

Further, when constructing the plant equipment, it is necessary to confirm the operating condition of the plant on the OIS 1 before installing the actual field equipment in order to improve the efficiency of the test and shorten the construction period.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, a process I / O card 4 corresponding to a field structure, a CR circuit,
A simulation circuit 5 including a contact switch, a lamp and the like for simulating the operation on the field side is prepared in advance, and the PCS 2 and the simulation circuit 5 are connected via the process I / O card 4. Then, the OIS 1 gave a command to the PCS 2 to perform the training operation.

Further, when performing a dynamic simulation, a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) is connected to the process I / O card 4 instead of the simulation circuit 5, and a test operation is performed with the OIS 1 against the PLC. It was

On the other hand, an operation training simulator simulating not only the field side but also the operator console of the OIS 1 is constructed completely different from the actual plant equipment, and the test operation and the operation training are performed by the operation training simulator. There are also things like doing.

When a simulation is performed using the above-mentioned simulation circuit 5 or PLC, there is an advantage that the simulation can be performed using the operator console (OIS1) of the actual plant equipment. However, the PCS and the process I / O card 4 must be created for each field, which requires a great deal of time and effort for the process I / O.
When the card 4 is mounted, the size of the device becomes large, which causes a problem that portability is deteriorated.

Further, a large-scale driving training simulator is
Although there is an advantage that a more advanced simulation can be realized than PLC, etc., if the plant equipment to be simulated is different, the operator console also has to be recreated, which lacks versatility.

[0013]

As described above, in the conventional simulator for plant operation training or for supporting plant equipment design, it takes a lot of time and effort to make the simulator, and the device becomes large in size, and thus it is inferior in portability. There was a problem that it lacked versatility.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is possible to perform a process control simulation before making a PCS and a process I / O card, and it is possible to greatly shorten the testing and assembling steps. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a virtual controller that enables even a simulation using a large-scale driving training simulator without reducing the versatility.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, a virtual controller of the present invention virtualizes a controller that executes a process control of a plant, and an operator station that operates the plant through the controller is virtualized. For providing a simulated driving environment, a tool for setting the simulation environment,
The configuration includes an identifier that is included in the tool and indicates a type of simulation to be executed, and a unit that determines the type of simulation to be executed from the identifier and prepares a simulation environment according to the type.

[0016]

In the virtual controller of the present invention, the type of simulation is determined from the identifier included in the tool, and the simulation environment corresponding to the type is automatically prepared. Therefore, in the case of a small-scale simulation, a simple simulation function can be prepared, and in the case of a large-scale simulation, a computer having a process control simulation function and an operator station are connected to perform simulation. You can

[0017]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention in which a distributed controller is provided with a virtual controller.

In this embodiment, virtual controller stations (hereinafter referred to as VPCS) 12-1 to 12-n are connected to a LAN 11 which connects the OIS 10 and a plurality of PCSs. In the VPCS 12, the LAN 11 and the internal bus 13 are matched by the LAN interface 14, and the main CPU 15, the control CPU 16, the storage unit 17, and the transmission interface 18 are connected to the internal bus 13. A simulation environment is set in the VPCS 12 by the tool 19.

The LAN interface 14 and the main CPU 15 are PCSs used in an actual distributed control device.
It uses the same LAN interface and CPU. The main CPU 15 has a function of executing the same process control as the PCS to be simulated. The control CPU 16 functions as a simple simulator. The storage unit 17 functions as a work area of the main CPU 15 and the control CPU 16 and provides the main CPU 15 with a process database. The transmission interface 18 is, for example, RS232C, GB
-It is composed of an interface such as IP and is detachable from the VPCS 12. The transmission interface 18 is used for the VP when performing a large-scale simulation.
It is attached to the CS 12 and communicatively connects the VPCS 12 and the controller / plant simulator computer 20 (hereinafter referred to as SIM).

The tools 19 include those for small-scale simulation using the control CPU 16 and those for large-scale simulation using the SIM 20. The small-scale simulation tool 19a has A type information and B type information. Type A information is the target PCS
Is data for realizing the process I / O card configuration, analog / digital input / output mechanism, tag information, process control function, and the like. The type B information is a simple simulation function, an identifier indicating a small-scale simple simulation, and the like. The large-scale simulation tool 19b has data of each function excluding the process control function from the A type information and C type information. The C type information is an identifier indicating that it is a large-scale simple simulation.

The PCS in the actual distributed control device
Is set with a tool having only the above-mentioned type A information. The SIM 20 is preset with a program that simulates the process control and field operation of the target PCS.

FIG. 2 shows the internal functional configuration of the virtual controller 12. The LAN interface 14 performs a LAN transmission process for transmitting / receiving data to / from the LAN 11. The main CPU 15 executes control processing such as collection of process data, creation of a process database, and response to the OIS 10, and the control CPU 16 executes simple simulation of the field. In addition, a process database realized by using a part of the storage unit 17 for storing process data, parameters, process variables and the like obtained as a result of simulation is stored in the main C
The PU 15 manages the process I / O card based on the configuration, analog / digital input / output mechanism, tag information, and other data.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. After the distributed controller is started up, the simulation environment is set up using the tool 19. For example, if the tool 19a is used, a simulation environment for performing a small-scale simple simulation is set. That is, when the tool data is read by the VPCS 12, the identifier included in the tool 19a is determined. If the judged identifier indicates a small-scale simulation, the A type information is stored in the main C
The program of the simple simulation function of the B type information is saved in the work area of the PU 15 and the work area of the control CPU 16. This saving process activates each function of the control process and the simple simulation.

The process data such as PV, SV, MV, etc., or the status thereof, which is created by the simple process simulation process / control process in the VPCS 12 and set in the process database, or the status such as DI / DO, is transmitted from this database by the LAN transmission process. Through OI
It is transmitted to S10 and displayed on the OIS10.

On the other hand, when there is an instruction to change the process variables and parameters from the OIS 10 to the VPCS 12, the instruction to change is received by the LAN transmission processing and written in the process database. In the case of a small-scale simulation, the control process / simple simulation is performed with reference to the process database, so these change data are automatically reflected in the process.

Further, the tool 19b is used to set up a simulation environment for a large-scale simulation. When the VPCS 12 recognizes from the identifier of the tool 19b that the simulation is a large-scale simulation, the VPCS 12 determines whether or not the transmission interface 18 is attached, and makes a preparation recommendation if the transmission interface 18 is not attached. When it is confirmed that the transmission interface 18 is attached, the VPCS
The communication environment between 12 and the SIM 20 is prepared so that communication is possible.

Next, in the storage unit 17 of the VPCS 12, data such as the process I / O card configuration, analog / digital input / output mechanism, tag information, etc. of the type A information is stored, and a process database managed by the transmission process is created. create.

The process data created by the SIM 20 simulation is sequentially stored in the process database of the VPCS 12, and is transmitted and displayed on the OIS 10 through the transmission process.

When the OIS 10 gives an instruction to change the parameters, the LAN transmission process stores the parameter change data in the process database of the VPCS 12, and at the same time notifies the transmission interface 18 of the changed contents. The transmission interface 18 immediately transmits the changed content to the SIM 20.

In the large-scale simulation, the transmission speed is the most important because it is connected to the SIM 20 via the transmission line 21. In this embodiment, for example, GP-IB
2 lines are used to connect to the SIM 20 through multiple ports. As a result, when a new transaction occurs during transmission on one line, the other line is used to maintain high transmission speed.

Further, in the large-scale simulation, in addition to the normal simulation, functions such as playback and pause are required. Therefore, the operation content of the operator is transmitted to the SIM side each time together with the time information, and the process data from the SIM side is VPCS at least every 1 second cycle.
12 process databases are written and updated.

In the case of playback, the OIS operation contents and the batch save data (used as initial condition settings) saved on the SIM side during the simulation up to now are SI
It is transmitted from the M side to the OIS 10 via the VPCS 12. Therefore, when a large amount of data is received when the initial condition is set and when the time is set, the time is broadcast to all other stations including the OIS 10.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the OIS 10
Since the VPCS 12 is made to be virtualized with the PCS when the VPCS 12 is viewed from, the system coupling test of the distributed control can be performed before the PCS having the process I / O card is created. Moreover, since the process I / O card is not provided, the device can be downsized,
It can be made portable.

Further, since another simulation can be realized only by changing the program of the process control function stored in the storage unit 17, it is easy to create a simple simulation, and the testing and assembling steps can be largely performed. It can be shortened.

Further, since the tool 19 for setting the simulation environment in the VPCS 12 is provided with an identifier for instructing the type of simulation, and the simulation environment is adapted to the identifier, a simple simulation and full-scale simulation using the SIM 20 are performed. Both the dynamic simulations can be performed on the OIS 10. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0036]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, P
Simulation of process control can be performed before making CS and process I / O card, the test and assembly process can be greatly shortened, and the simulation using a large-scale operation training simulator can be performed without lowering versatility. Can provide a virtual controller that allows up to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of a VPCS provided in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a distributed control device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a simulation situation of a distributed control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... operator interface station,
11 ... LAN, 12 ... Virtual process controller station, 14 ... LAN interface, 15 ... Main CPU, 16 ... Control CPU, 17 ... Storage unit, 18
... Transmission interface, 19 ... Tool, 20 ... Controller / plant simulator computer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A virtual controller that virtualizes a controller that executes process control of a plant and provides a simulated operating environment to an operator station that operates the plant via the controller, for setting a simulation environment. Tool, an identifier that is included in the tool and indicates the type of simulation to be executed, and a means that determines the type of simulation to be executed from the identifier and prepares a simulation environment according to the type. And a virtual controller.